


Curtains

by Elsey8



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Missing Scene, hangar fic, only kind of comfort its mostly hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:50:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26860147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elsey8/pseuds/Elsey8
Summary: Missing scene in the hangar. In which Kaito and Kokichi talk about life and death.
Relationships: Momota Kaito/Oma Kokichi, implied, sorta
Comments: 5
Kudos: 72





	Curtains

Kaito kind of doesn’t know what he’s doing. With a crossbow from Maki’s lab in his hands, aimed squarely at Kokichi standing in front of him. 

He tells himself he just needed to disarm Kokichi, just needs to get him to tell the truth for once. Kokichi doesn’t seem all too thrilled about being shot in the arm though, judging by the quiet anger storming behind his eyes.

Kaito quickly grabs for Kokichi, trying to wrench the remote for the Exisals out of his hand. 

Neither of them have spoken a word to each other, and Kaito can only hope even though he’s been weak recently he can still win this fight. 

The shutter of the hangar opens and Kaito curses. Kokichi must’ve already summoned a damn Exisal.

“That...I didn’t do that.” Kokichi tries to pry the remote back. “Let go you stupid idiot! I have to—“

But as Kokichi is yelling at him, Kaito has to watch as he turns his back on the Exisal. And as Maki climbs out of the cockpit, crossbow in hand. She levels it at Kokichi’s back and shoots. 

Things are happening way too fast.

“Maki!”

“Get away from him!” Maki yells, jumping to the ground. “And answer some goddamn questions for once!”

“Aw Maki roll,” Kokichi coughs and turns. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Don’t fucking call me that.” Maki raises the crossbow again. “That arrow was poisoned, that crap from Shuichi’s lab that acts slow. So you have a while to confess. I’m glad Kaito is here so we can both hear it. Well?”

“Confess to what?” Kokichi smiles easily. “Oh no...you don’t think I’m in love with you, do you? I’d never confess to that!”

“Be serious!” Maki snaps. “You said you were the mastermind. Start talking!”

“Don’t bully me!” Kokichi fake cries, though he keeps giggling. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Maki, don’t...don’t bother, he’s not going to talk to us,” Kaito says quietly. “Let’s just go get the antidote and try to at least restrain him.”

“No.” Maki glares sharply. “He’s not going anywhere. I’m finishing him off.”

Kaito doesn’t even think about it, and that’s the worst part. He steps right in front of Kokichi, taking the arrow in his own arm with a yelp.

“I...the antidote, I’ll go get it!” Maki turns and runs.

Kaito starts to move to ask Kokichi if he’s alright, but watches as he closes the shutter of the hangar, wincing.

“Kokichi, I need you to tell me what the hell you’re doing.”

“Why did you bother saving me?” he asks, totally ignoring Kaito.

“I didn’t want Maki to become the blackened. I don’t want her to kill anyone.”

“Good.” Kokichi leans heavily against the wall. “Then this will work?”

“What will?”

Kokichi doesn’t say anything else, clutching at his arm weakly as the moments pass.

There’s a pounding knock on the bathroom window, and Kaito makes his way over to it to hear Maki frantically telling him she has the antidote. With one hand, Kaito manages to barely prop the window open so he can grab the bottle.

“Wait you only brought one—“

Kokichi snatches it from his hand and knocks it back. 

“No!” Maki pounds on the window. “Kaito I’ll find another way in, I...you won’t die! I’ll save you!”

Kokichi laughs softly, and they both can only stand around as Maki desperately tries to get in. But eventually the sounds stop, and Kaito can only assume she gave up. 

“Looks like even your own friend can’t be bothered to save you,” Kokichi scoffs. 

“You’re the one who closed us in here.”

Kokichi shrugs, taking out an...Electrobomb. The weird things he made Miu make, that disable electronics. He detonates it, letting it roll out of his palm and onto the floor.

“Well, if she won’t save you I guess I have to,” Kokichi sighs heavily. “Here.”

Kokichi holds the antidote bottle out for him.

“You already drank it,” Kaito argues. “If you don’t take the whole thing we’ll both die.”

“I didn’t drink a drop.” Kokichi presses it into his hand. “That’s true.”

“What’s the catch?”

“I just need you to cooperate with me. I need an accomplice for my final lie.” Kokichi winks at him, then winces. “Surely you won’t say no, not to my dying wish after I just saved your life?”

Kaito sets his mouth into a frown and pulls the arrow out of his arm before downing the antidote. Kokichi doesn’t say Kaito will be dead in a few days anyway, so Kaito doesn’t bring it up either.

“Okay, what do you need me to do?”

“There’s a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.” Kokichi claps his hands together and reaches out. “You’re going to need to help me walk. If I die from this poison before everything gets set up, it’ll all be ruined.”

“Just...tell me what to do, I’ll listen.”

“I need you to drag me,” Kokichi gasps out. “Wow this poison is kicking in. Haha, hope I don’t drop before you finish the plan!”

“Don’t joke about that. Where am I bringing you?”

“Drag me to the hydraulic press,” Kokichi commands. “We need the bloodstain. Once we get there, bring me to the control panel and help me stand. That’s where the lie starts.”

Kaito gently takes Kokichi by the wrists and drags him out of the bathroom. The blood from Kokichi’s back is soaking through his jacket, and easily creates this a swipe pattern across the floor. Kaito looks away and makes sure they don’t bump into anything on the way. 

Kokichi is half dead weight already.

Kaito picks Kokichi up, entirely supporting his weight as he brings him up to the control panel.

“What now?”

“I’m gonna need you to put a lot of trust in me.” Kokichi leans on the panel now. “Because you have to lay on the press. And the Electrobomb disabled the safety function. But I’m going to stop it before it actually gets to you. That’s true.”

Kaito can’t even argue. He just goes to lay on the press like Kokichi told him too.

“Make sure you lay on your coat,” Kokichi says from the panel. “I’ll record it, and just...don’t worry.”

Kaito watches the press come down on him, and wonders if Kokichi is just lying. Maybe it won’t stop, maybe it’ll crush him and this was just Kokichi’s plan all along. 

The press just barely hits his toes when it stops, and lifts again so he can get out.

Kokichi is grinning at him with a camera in his hand.

“What now?”

“You’re going to push that button while I lay there and crush me.”

Kaito had kind of figured that was Kokichi’s plan. For Kaito to kill him before the poison.

“Okay, just. You have a while on the poison still, don’t you?”

“I should.”

Kaito sits against the press and gestures for Kokichi to join him.

They sit in silence for another moment.

“Why? What is all this for? I’ve never understood you less than I do right now,” Kaito admits. 

“My plan. Is to make an unsolvable murder, even for Monokuma. All the cameras are disabled.” Kokichi curls up, looking smaller than ever. “I’m going to have you cut the wires to the press after it crushes me. So the body can’t be identified. I’ll take off my jacket, shirt, scarf. You’ll have to flush those in the bathroom. And you stay in an Exisal, for the trial too. Pretend to be me. An unsolvable murder, my final lie.”

“Why?”

“To fuck everyone over,” Kokichi says, clearly sarcastic. “To end this game.”

“I thought you liked this game?”

“How could I like a game I’m forced to play?” Kokichi stares straight ahead and shakes his head. “No, I lied about being the mastermind and...I’m just hoping this ends everything once and for all.”

“Why you? Why not me? I’m going to die anyway.”

“I’m not killing anyone else,” Kokichi says plainly. “It should be me. I deserve it.”

“I don’t know if I can pretend to be you.”

“It’s easy,” Kokichi dismisses. “Wing it.”

“This isn’t going to work,” Kaito says.

Kokichi laughs, burying his face in his hands, then tipping it back again.

“Oh fuck, you’re right. Shuichi will figure it out. I don’t know how, but he will.” Kokichi rubs his face. “But I’m going to die either way, and so are you. Maybe this will at least help them. Yeah?”

“I think it will.” Kaito sets a hand on Kokichi’s shoulder. “I think it’ll bring them closer to the truth.”

Kaito doesn’t know how, but he doesn’t say that part. He can be decent to Kokichi in the moments before he dies.

“I’m claustrophobic,” Kokichi says, then laughs. “That’s true. I chose the worse death for myself didn’t I? Kaito...I don’t want to die.”

“You couldn’t have told me that before I took the antidote?”

“I was fine with it until you made me stop and sit down,” Kokichi complains. “Now I’m all freaked out! Geez.”

Kaito notes, numbly, that he’s never heard Kokichi so void of teasing and lies. 

“Is there another antidote?”

“No,” Kokichi says. “Shuichi’s lab is...weird and hard to make sense of. But I’m pretty sure there’s only one of the antidotes. Otherwise Maki would be back with another one by now.”

“That’s true.”

There’s another beat of silence, and then Kokichi sighs. He leans on Kaito, and he’s too stunned to even breath for a second. 

“I wish things didn’t have to be this way,” Kokichi murmurs. “I wish...I wish we were just going to normal school. I‘d be on the debate team, probably with Shuichi. He’d still find a way to face off against me I bet. You’d cheer us on, wouldn’t you? You and everyone else?”

“Yeah,” Kaito agrees readily.

He doesn’t want to move or disrupt whatever this is. 

“Liar. You’d think it were stupid. I bet you’d call me and Shuichi nerds, you big bully. I wonder if Miu and I could be friends there. I want to apologize to Gonta.”

Kokichi is spiraling, and all Kaito can do with the time they have left is let him.

“Don’t let me die,” Kokichi whispers.

“I can’t do anything about it now.” Kaito gently takes Kokichi’s trembling hand. “It’s...I’m so sorry.”

“I’m scared.”

“You don’t have to die from the press, do you?” Kaito moves to pull Kokichi closer. “No one has to know. The cameras are off. I’ll make sure the press never opens again. It’ll be just...a secret, between us.”

“Another lie?” Kokichi asks quietly.

“Yeah. What do you say?”

“Okay.” 

Kokichi is so quiet now. He’s relaxing more and more against Kaito, almost like he’s falling asleep.

Kaito knows better than that.

“I’ll take care of it,” Kaito assures him. “You can count on me, sidekick.”

“I’m...Hah.” Kokichi squeezes his hand. “You know if anyone had to see me like this, it’s not so bad that it’s you. That’s...that’s true.”

He can feel Kokichi fighting to hang on, not that he moves or says anything. But it’s in the air, the tension that won’t drop. 

“It’s alright. I’ll take care of it.” Kaito gently puts a hand to Kokichi’s head. “You can...you can just go to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

It’s a weak thing to say, and he can feel Kokichi smile. He starts to gently pet Kokichi’s head, like the softness will help his lie.

“You’re a liar,” Kokichi says. “But...okay. Goodnight, Kaito. Don’t let me sleep too long.”

“I won’t,” Kaito lies. “Go to sleep, Kokichi.”

Kokichi’s weight drops into his lap and Kaito leans his head back. Somehow, Kaito didn’t think it would hurt. 

But he cries, he sobs. 

He tells himself it’s because a once living being has died in his arms. Because it can’t be because it was Kokichi, they’ve never gotten along. All they do is argue. 

And it would hurt too bad to admit that he actually cared. 

Kaito gives himself time to pull himself together. Then he gently shifts Kokichi to pick him up. His body is still warm, and in that regard it’s easy to pretend he is just sleeping. 

Kaito lays him on top of his jacket, wincing as he takes Kokichi’s own jacket, shirt, and scarf off. Just like he told him. 

He pulls the his jacket over Kokichi’s shoulders like it’ll keep him warm. He goes to flush the clothes in the bathroom, then walks back. 

He already feels bad again, the sickness tightening up his chest worse and worse every moment. He wishes he could’ve saved Kokichi here at least. He’ll die soon enough anyway. 

He kneels by the press to fix Kokichi’s hair. To wipe tears from his face he hadn’t noticed had spilled. To make sure he’s in the right position. And he follows Kokichi’s directions to the letter. 

The best he can do is carry out Kokichi’s final lie now. 

He wasn’t lying at least, he’s sure they’ll be seeing each other again soon enough. It won’t be long.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Just a little thing I wrote for DR, although please keep in mind I haven't played the third game even lmao


End file.
